Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Humphrey Yogart in Sherman Oaks

Summer may almost be over but that doesn't mean my seasonal hankering for milkshakes has subsided. Like clockwork, when May dwindles down and June is approaching, I start craving milkshakes like a tween craves a romantic evening with a Jonas brother. This yen isn't really a problem when I'm at home and can make a quick trip to Scoops to sate me but it's a different story when I'm at my boyfriend's place in the Valley.

The only options I was aware of for a cold, creamy, dairy-free treat west of La Brea are Ice Pan and Millions of Milkshakes, both of which are too far from the bf's. I contemplated making my own milkshakes with coconut milk ice cream and rice milk from the Studio City Whole Foods, but having an entire carton of ice cream in the freezer is far too dangerous for me--I have been known to tell myself that I should just polish off the whole carton in order to avoid eating it the rest of the week--does that make sense? No, it does not at all, but my ice-cream-obsessed brain is far from logical.

After doing some hardcore research, I came across Humphrey Yogart (sic--get it? because what they do with yogurt is like art?!) in Sherman Oaks and off I went. You will not find a plethora of vegan options at Humphrey like you might at Millions of Milkshakes or Ice Pan, but what you will find is a vegan, soy-based milkshake base and many vegan mix-ins. These mix-ins range from various types of fruits to espresso syrup and carob chips.

So far, I haven't been able to venture far from my usual combo: the soy base with Oreos. Occasionally I have chocolate syrup added as well (I have been assured multiple times by different employees that the syrup is vegan.) The result is a super-creamy, tasty and refreshing vegan milkshake! My only complaint is that I like my milkshakes to have some chunks in them but I am told they can't control this so they just sprinkle some cookie bits on the top for me. I really don't get it--can't they just stop the blender a little sooner to preserve some intact Oreos??? They always insist they can't, so it's smooth milkshakes for me. But no worries, I will still continue to suck these bad babies down.

Humphrey also stocks all sorts of weird health foods including a lot of vegan cookies, cereals, and granola bars. One of my fave finds is Nutlettes cereal. I've never tried them but I dare you to find a cereal with a more hilarious moniker.

Humphrey Yogart is in fact art to those of use whose milkshake habit is impeded by the lack of vegan milkshakeries in L.A. Get your tush over there pronto!

EDIT: Foodeater at To Live and Eat in L.A. told me that when she went to Humphrey a while ago the soy base contained whey, making it not vegan. I went back and read the ingredients and there was no whey or any other dairy product. Nay to Humphrey for originally serving non-vegan food to vegans, but yay for remedying the problem.

How obsessed I used to be with Oreo shakes! Now I could totally go for a vegan one...possibly with HFCS-free Newman O's!!! Humphrey Yogart sounds amazing! The only vegan milkshake around these parts is thin and flavorless compared to the Chicago Diner ones, which are sadly 5 hours away. Booo!My ice cream brain is illogical as well - only a few times in my life have I been able to resist eating a vegan pint in one sitting! Usually I will just eat it outside the store...because...you know...it would melt on the car/bus ride home. :) Haha, brains do funny things around sugar, don't they?

regarding whipped bananas... have you ever been to the kath eats real food blog? she invented the technique for doing this and talks about it here: http://www.katheats.com/kaths-tribute-to-oatmeal/

basically you throw bananas sliced extra-thin into the pot of oatmeal, and then you put some muscle into it and stir like crazy! the bananas kinda break down and emulsify the oats...it is magical. and you will never again be able to eat a bowl of oats without whipped bananas. (oh, and use the naners with lotsa brown speckles - extra ripe!)

Oreo milkshakes totally take me back to a happy place in my teen years when I could drink a milkshake and not gain LITERALLY FIVE POUNDS, which is what happens to me in this post-metabolism era of my life. Maybe soy-based milkshakes would not have this effect on me????

Oh Kirby I HEAR you. There was one glorious high school summer when I worked at the mall and my friend worked at the gelato place in the food court. Every day for my lunch she would make me a ginormous (free of charge, of course) milk shake. I would literally have a huge milk shake every day for lunch and yet I was trim as can be. DAMMIT to be young again...